The problem with English rugby
Ben Foden heads off to New York with a warning for Eddie Jones
WHEN Ben Foden was considering a career move to America, part of the appeal was shorter seasons. Now, the former England full back is heading to New York, with a warning about the grind he is leaving behind.
The visa has finally arrived, so he is all set. Next week, the 33-yearold will land in the Big Apple, ready to help the start- up franchise he is joining to make an impact in Major League Rugby.
He will serve as a player-coach. In time, the objective is a postcareer venture into broadcasting, unless Foden discovers a sufficient aptitude and appetite for coaching to make it a full-time job.
There is evidence that punditry would come naturally. He has always been articulate, but now w he also has the freedom to express profound views on the sport — free of the need to avoid rocking boats, at a club or within a national squad.
Foden played 34 Tests for England, between 2009 and 2013, and last May he left Northampton after a decade of sterling service to the East Midlands club. There were various factors behind his decision to venture over to the States, and work-load was one of them.
With New York, he will be involved in a league campaign until May. That’s it, until preseason in November. No other tournaments. No attempt to fill the calendar with endless rugby. It’s a far cry from what he’s been used to — a relentless slog which is destined to become even more extreme whenever the new global season structure is finalised.
Citing the pressure created in the Premiership by promotion and relegation, he said: ‘In the last couple of years I always felt that I was going on to the field at about 80 per cent. I had two very bad knee injuries and an ankle injury.
‘I always had a niggle of some sort. You never feel 100 per cent. I always say to young professionals coming through that they need to be more selfish. If you’re not 100 per cent then you shouldn’t be on the field. Your body is your job. You’ve got to look after yourself.
‘I have never done that as a player. I always wanted to be on the field, so if someone said, “Are you all right?” I’d just nod my head and get on with it.
‘That is really common in the game and some coaches put you in an awkward position.
‘As a player, you should always want to play, so if a coach asks if you want to play, you answer “Yes”, if you’re 10 per cent fit or 100 per cent fit. For me, it should be on the doctors or physios to say you can’t play, but that is really difficult for them to do. It is difficult for whoever carries that burden, but a line has to be drawn.’
The domestic season is set to be extended from 2020. The authorities insist that rest breaks will be factored in, but Foden is alarmed by this vision for the future, adding: ‘There’s been talk of an 11-month season, but that cannot happen. It is madness. Rugby is unique — it’s a fast-paced, contact sport. If you look at all other major contact sports, their seasons are a lot shorter.’
This is primarily an English issue. Other nations handle their players with care. Even in France, where the season is long and gruelling, coaches rotate massive squads for away fixtures. So the problem is most acute here — and it has ramifications at Test level.
‘If England want to compete with New Zealand, something has to change,’ said Foden. ‘New Zealand’s seasons are shorter. And how are Ireland so good, with only four provincial teams to pick from? Their players are well managed and looked after, that’s why.
‘The RFU won’t allow players to be picked for England if they go abroad — which makes sense to protect the domestic game — but it means that they are forced to stay in probably the toughest league.
‘If we want to be World Cup winners and not just as a oneoff, but back-to-back like New Zealand have done in the last two World Cups, changes need to be made. You need your fittest and best players on the field at all times.’
Gone are the days when Foden would play on through niggles and fatigue, striving for honours.
He is in a different phase now, preparing to play at a baseball stadium next to a theme park, in Coney Island, south of Brooklyn.
He will be part of a project which was sold to him by ex-Saints and England team-mate Alex Corbisiero — the rapper-prop from New York who helped the Lions win a Test series Down Under and is now helping Americans embrace the
sport. Foden is enthused by the prospect of helping to seize public attention in a city awash with ex- pats from England, Ireland, Australia and the Pacific.
His expectation is that he will find himself in a league more akin to Championship standard rather than the Premiership. That suits him just fine. ‘I’ll feel like quite a good player,’ he said, with a laugh.
Later this year, several former team-mates of Foden’s will be trying to make a name for themselves in Japan. England will go to the World Cup as one of the primary contenders. Asked how he rates their chances, Foden said: ‘ New Zealand and Ireland are the top two, then South Africa and England are next, battling to be the third seeds. I think England are in a good place.
‘The autumn internationals were a turning point and they have momentum again.’ His optimism is founded in part on Eddie Jones’s decision to deploy Owen Farrell at fly-half — ‘I’ve always thought that’s where we should play him’ — and also the emergence of a new destructive weapon, Joe Cokanasiga.
‘I was one of the people who thought that maybe he’s not ready,’ said Foden. ‘Then I saw him play for England and thought, “Wow, he is dangerous”.
‘As an opposition winger, you’d wake up, remember that you’ve got to mark him and think, “Oh, no”. It’s nice that England have got someone like that at our disposal now; a big unit who can shift.’
Foden is a smaller unit who can shift, as he will soon prove to American audiences.